Organ stop action



NOV. 19, 1935. J. T AUS-11N ORGAN STOP ACTION Filed Jan. l5, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l l Joh 2? T. /1 ash' n @www www@

Patented Nov. 19, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ORGAN STOP ACTION Application January 15, 1935, Serial No. 1,963

12 Claims.

This invention relates to organ stop actions, and has particular reference to traces by means of which various combinations of stops may be operated.

The aim of the present invention is to provide an improved trace arrangement having various features of novelty and advantage and which is particularly characterized by the convenience and readiness with which the actuators of the traces may be set to record any desired combination. With my improved arrangement, it is not necessary that the organist employ one hand to maintain the trace in operative position during the operation of setting the actuators but, on the contrary, both of the organists hands are relatively free to manipulate the individual keys or tablets of the rollers associated with the stops which it is desired to record, or to continue to play the composition with one hand while using the other A'hand for setting the rollers.

A further aim of the invention is to provide an improved trace arrangement which is characterized by its simplicity in construction, its economy in manufacture, its effectiveness and reliability in operation, and by its strength and durability so that it may be operated over a long period of time without danger or liability of becoming out of order.

Other objects will be in part obvious, and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplied in the construction hereinafter set forth -y and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown one embodiment which the present invention may take,

Fig. l is a view showing more or less diagrammatically the recording mechanism of the present invention, the cams or actuators thereof being in locked position and the trace being in retracted position;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view showing a plurality of the traces;

Fig. 3 is a detail View showing one of the traces in advanced or operative position and the actuators unlocked;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view in top plan of one of the traces, the locking bar being in non-locking position;

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the locking bar in locking position;

Fig. 6 is a View taken substantially on line 6-6' of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective viewof one of the actuators.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown there- 5 in a plurality of skeleton rollers I0 forming parts of the usual stop action operating devices lof the organ. As such operating devices are old and well known, one type being shown in my patent No. 1,078,079, dated November l1, 1913, they lo are not completely disclosed in the accompanying drawings. It will here suflice to say that these skeleton rollers are respectively and operatively connected to the several registers of pipes and they are adapted to be individually set or oper- 15 ated by suitable manipulative devices, such as stop keys, convenient to the hands of the organist. Extending transversely of and through the rollers are a plurality of trace bars II which, as disclosed in my said patent, may be in the form lo of strips of metal set on edge. They may be suitably supported for sliding movement on a pan or support I2. Carried by each trace bar are a plurality of actuators or cams I3 respectively associated with the skeleton rollers, the arrangement being such that these cams are adapted to be set by the rollers and the cams are adapted to rock the rollers from 01T to on position or vice versa, as hereinafter described more in detail. The traces may be moved to operative positions to set the cams thereon in accordance with the setting of the several skeleton rollers or to operate the skeleton rollers in accordance with the set condition of the cams, as the case may be, by any suitable mechanism, but for this purpose I have shown in the accompanying drawings an arrangement similar to that illustrated and claimed in my Patent No. 1,456,612 dated May 29, 1923. Accordingly, each trace bar is provided with an armature I4, and associated with each 40 armature is a respective magnet I5. Each magnet is connected to its own individual thumb piston I6 or other manipulative device. Common to all the pistons I6 and the magnets I5 is a solenoid l1 which, when energized, moves an im- 45 peller I8 from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 3. The spring I9 returns the impeller when the solenoid I1 is deenergized. Each trace is provided with a respective spring 20 which normally urges the trace into withdrawn 50 or inoperative position. With this arrangement, when it is desired to advance one of the traces to the operative position shown in Fig. 3, the thumb piston I6 associated with that trace is pushed in, with the result that the associated 55 lll Cil

magnet l5 is energized and the armature I4 is raised into the path of movement of the impeller. As the armature is raised the impeller advances and, through the raised armature, moves the trace to operative position. When the thumb piston is released, the current is broken so that the impeller will return to its normal position, the armature will fall, and the spring 20 will return the trace to withdrawn or inoperative position.

The cams or actuators which are of improved and novel construction, are adapted to be positively locked or held in set position by a locking bar 2i carried by but movable relative to the respective trace bar and adapted to be heid in non-locking position during the setting of the act s by mechanism hereinafter described moiV in detail. When the locking bar is in non-locking or inoperative position, the cams or ctuators held by a slight amount of friction in position, the amount of friction, however, not being suniciently great to cause the actuators to urn the rollers when the actuators are brought into engagement with the rollers.

Reierring more particularly to the cams I3, each compr' e., a T-shaped member stamped from thin sheet l which is somewhat resilient. Each is suitably pivoted to the side of the trace bar, as by means of a headed stud 25, so that the cam is settab-le into two positions in one of which its upper arm 25 extends above the upper edge of the trace bar, and in the other of which the lower arm extends below the lower edge of the trace bar. The cam is notched as at E1 so as to receive the stud. The are oiset inwardly towards the trace bar so as to provide at the rear end of the cam a groove 29 having shoulders provided by offsetting the arms. The groove ci each cam or actuator accommodates the head of the stud 25 on which the next succeeding actuator is pivoted, and the shoulders cooperate with the head of this stud so as to limit the extent of pivotal movement of the actuator. Each cam is under slight spring tension so that there is a siight binding or resilient holding action between the cams and the studs which they engage so that when the locking bar is in inoperative position those cams which are up will not of their own weight fall during the setting operation, but the friction between the cams and the studs due to this holding action is not sufficiently great to permit the cams to move the rollers when they are brought into engagement thereY 1 and while the locking bar is in inoperative position. The iorward end edge 3i of each cam engages against the stud on which the next preceding camA is pivoted so as to prevent longitudinal displacement of the actuator with respect to the stud on which it is pivoted. Projecting rearwardly from the center of the rear end of the actuator is a locking proiection .'52 the rear end of which is pointed or wedge shaped.

The locking bar 2i comprises a strip of metal supported on one side of the trace bar by guide pins 33. These pins may be riveted to the trace bar and may have grooves for receiving the edges of the locking bar. locking bar has, along its longitudinal medial line, locking pins or projections spaced apart correspondingly to the spacing of the actuators. These pins 35, as shown most clearly in Fig. l, are adapted to cooperate with the locking projections 32 of the actuators when the locking bar is in advanced or holding position so as to positively and securely hold the actuators against swinging movement. The locking bar is normally urged forwardly into locking position, that is, to the right in Fig. l, by a spring 35 the opposite ends of which are respectively connected to the locking bar and the associated trace bar. Each locking bar, adjacent its rear end and in its bottom edge, is provided with a forwardly facing shoulder 31 with which is adapted to cooperate a blade or fin 40 of the device for holding the locking bar in inoperative position when the trace bar is advanced to set the actuators thereof.

This holding device is shown for illustrative purposes as including a rock shaft 4I extending transversely of and located beneath the rear end portions of the locking bars and suitably journaled for oscillating movement in the support or pan l2. This shaft has the radially extending blade or n 4D. Secured to one end of this shaft is an arm 42 connected by means of a link 43 to a, lever 44 pivoted as at 45. The other arm of this lever is connected by means of a rod 48 to the core or armature 41 of a solenoid 48. The coil of the solenoid is in a circuit which includes a battery 49 and a switch 53. This switch preferably has a circuit operating member in the form of a foot operated pedal 5I conveniently located so as to be operated by the foot of the organist. Obviously, the switch may be associated with a piston for manual control.

The operation of the arrangement described is briefly as follows: assuming that it is desired to record on a trace a desired stop combination for future use, the rollers of those stops which are to enter into that combination are manually manipulated by their respective keys or knobs so as to set the same in on position. The remaining rollers are set in off position. The rollers having been properly set, the organist will close the switch 50, thus energizing the solenoid 48 and causing the blade 40 to be rocked to the position shown in Fig. 3 and in which position it is disposed immediately in front of the shoulders 31 of the locking bars. The thumb piston IB associated with the particular trace on which the combination is to be recorded is now pushed in so as to energize the solenoid l1 and thereby cause the impeller I8 to move that trace to operative or advanced position, as heretofore described. When the trace bar is thus moved, the locking bar thereof is held against movement by the blade 40 so that the actuators are moved out of engagement with the locking pins 35. It will be observed from Fig. l of the drawings that when the trace is in retracted position there is Sufcient clearance (designated by the numeral |05) between each cam and its associated roller to permit the main trace bar to be moved forwardly a. suiiicient extent to clear the now stationary locking pins 35 before the arms of the cams engage their respective rollers. It may be here stated that, due to the fact that very slight force is necessary to move the cams from one position to another by means of the rollers when the cams are out of engagement with the locking bar, the arms of the rollers may be of smaller diameter than has heretofore been the case. After the projections 32 have cleared the now stationary locking pins 35 and on continued forward movement of the main trace bar, the lower arms of those actuators associated with the rollers which have been set to on position engage the lower rods of those rollers and, therefore, those actuators are moved into raised or stop drawing position. Likewise, the remaining actuators or cams are moved down into stop canceling position by the upper rods of those rollers which are in o position. The cams will be held in their set positions by the slight frictional engagement heretofore described as existing between the cams and the studs associated therewith. The organist may now, in the desired sequence or simultaneously, remove his foot from the switch pedal 5I and release the piston I6, the order in which the switch 50 is opened and the piston I6 is released being immaterial because, as previously stated, the cams automatically retain their set positions under the slight friction present until they are positively locked in those positions by the locking bar, this being of advantage in that the organist need not burden himself with thought as to the order in which the pedal 5| and the piston I6 are operated. When the organist removes his foot from the switch pedal 5I, the solenoid 48 is deenergized so that the rock shaft 4| is rocked to the position shown in Fig. 1` The locking bar, having been released, will now be moved to advanced position by the spring 36, with the result that the pins 35 will engage over the projections 32 of those actuators which are in stop canceling position and will engage under the projections of those actuators which are in stop drawing position. When the piston I6 is released, the solenoid I 1 and the magnet I5 are deenergized, whereupon the spring 20 of the drawn trace will move that trace to the position shown in Fig. l. Obviously, all of the actuators are now positively locked in their respective positions, and when the trace bar is again drawn forwardly during the rendition of the composition, the actuators will engage and set their respective rollers to the same relative positions which they had during the operation of setting the actuators.

It is clear that during the Asetting operation, the rollers are set by means of their respective stop keys or other manipulative devices before the trace is drawn, and when the trace bar is drawn forwardly with the locking bar held in retracted position so that the actuators are caused to assume the positions of their respective rollers. There being but slight friction between the cams and the studs associated therewith, the rollers and the cams may be made relatively light. The setting operation for any desired combination may be carried out in a most convenient and ready manner. observed that the arrangement is a very simple and economical one, that the parts may be very -readily assembled, and close tolerances need not be observed, while at the same time the arrangement is very effective and reliable.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination, a plurality of rollers each having an on position and an off position, a longitudinally movable trace bar, a plurality It is also of vactuators mounted thereon with slight friction and respectively associated with said rollers and each having a stop drawing position and a stop canceling position, a locking bar supported on said trace bar and having limited longitudinal movement relative thereto, said bar having means for positively locking said actuators in their respective positions, means for normally urging said locking bar into locking position, and means for holding said locking bar against movement with said trace bar when the latter is moved to operative position whereby to unlock said actuators during the operation, of setting the same.

2. In combination, a plurality of rollers each having an on position and an olf position, a longitudinally movable trace bar, a plurality of actuators mounted thereon and respectively associated with said rollers and each having a stop drawing position and a stop canceling position, a locking bar supported on said trace bar and having limited longitudinal movement relative thereto, said bar having means for positively locking said actuators in their respective positions, a spring between said trace bar and locking bar and normally urging said locking bar into locking position, and holding means movable into and out of operative position with respect to said locking bar and arranged when in operative position to hold the locking bar against movement as the trace bar is moved to operative position, said locking bar being movable in locking position with said trace bar when said holding means is in inoperative position, said actuators being so mounted on said trace bar that when said locking bar is in inoperative position and said actuators are brought into engagement with said rollers said actuators are moved into positions corresponding to the respective rollers.

3. In combination, a plurality of rollers each having an on position and an` off position, a longitudinally movable trace bar, a plurality of actuators mounted thereon with slight friction and respectively associated with said rollers and each having a stop drawing position and a stop canceling position, a locking bar supported on said trace bar and having limited longitudinal movement relative thereto, said bar having a forwardly facing shoulder and means for positively locking said actuators in their respective positions, a spring between said trace bar and locking bar and normally urging said locking bar into locking position, and a member adapted to be moved into and out of position immediately in front of said shoulder for the purpose described.

4. In combination, a plurality of rollers each having an on position and an oi position; a plurality of traces associated with said rollers and each having a longitudinally movable trace bar, a plurality of actuators mounted thereon with slight friction and each having a stop drawing position and a stop canceling position, a locking bar slidably supported by the trace bar and having means for positively locking said actuators in position, and a spring between the trace bar and locking bar and normally urging the locking bar forwardly into locking position; and means common to al1 of said locking bars for holding each against movement with its associated trace bar when the latter is drawn during the operation of setting the actuators thereof.

5. In combination, a trace bar, a plurality of actuators pivoted thereon with slight friction and canceling position', each actuator having a substantially rigid locking element, a locking bar slidably supported by said trace bar and between which and said trace bar said actuators are interposed, rigid locking elements on said locking bar adapted t positively interlock with the respective looking elements of said actuators when the locking bar is in looking position, means on the trace bar for moving and normally maintaining the locking bar in locking position, and

separate means for causing said locking bar to assume a non-locking position.

6. In combination, a longitudinally movable trace bar, a plurality of actuators pivoted thereon with slight friction and each having a stop drawing position and a stop canceling position, each actuator having a locking projection, a locking bar supported by said trace bar for movement therewith and having limited movement relative thereto, looking projections on said locking bar adapted to engage the respective locking projections of the actuators to positively lock the latter in their respective positions and resiliently actuated means tending to normally urge and maintain said bar in locking position.

7. In combination, a longitudinally movable trace bar, a plurality of actuators pivoted thereon with slight friction and each having a stop drawing position and a stop canceling position, each actuator having a locking projection, a locking bar supported by said trace bar for movement therewith and having limited longitudinal movement relative thereto, locking projections on said locking bar adapted to engage the respective locking projections of the actuators to positively lock the latter in their respective positions, a spring between said trace bar and locking bar for normally urging the latter into locking position, and means for holding said locking bar out of locking position during the operation of setting the actuators.

8. In combination, a longitudinally movable trace bar, a plurality of actuators mounted thereon with slight friction and each having a stop drawing position and a stop canceling position, said friction being suicient to prevent the actuators from shifting from one of said positions to the other under inuenoe of their'own weight,

each of said actuators having a centrally disposed projecion at its free end, a locking bar supported by and movable with said trace bar and having limited longitudinal movement relative thereto, said locking bar having a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart projections adapted to engage above and below the projections on said actuators for positively locking the latter in their respective positions.

9. In combination, a longitudinally movable trace bar, a plurality of actuators mounted thereon with slight friction and each having a stop drawing position and a stop canceling position, each of said actuators having at its rear end a centrally disposed rearwardly extending projection, a locking bar mounted'on and movable with said trace bar but having limited movement relative thereto, and locking pins on said locking bar and adapted when the locking bar is in locking position to engage above or below the respective each having a stop drawing position and a, stopV projections on said actuators to lock the same in their relative set positions.

10. In combination, a longitudinally movable trace bar, a plurality of actuators mounted thereon with slight friction and each having a stop drawing position and a stop canceling position, each of said actuators having at its rear end a centrally disposed rearwardly extending projection, a locking bar mounted on and movable with said trace bar but having limited movement relative thereto, locking pins on said locking bar and adapted when the locking bar is in locking position to engage above or below the respective projections on said actuators to lock the same in their relative set positions, a spring between said trace bar and locking bar for normally urging the latter into locking position, and means for holding said locking bar out of locking position during the operation of setting said actuators.

11. In combination, a longitudinally movable trace bar, a plurality of headed studs carried by the trace bar and longitudinally spaced apart thereon, overlapping actuators pivoted on said studs with slight friction and each having a stop drawing position and a stop canceling position, each of said actuators having adjacent its free end a pair of spaced shoulders projecting longitudinally thereof and respectively disposed above and below the stud for supporting the next succeeding actuator and adapted to abut against said stud for limiting the extent of movement of the actuator, each of said actuators also having adjacent its free end a locking projection, a locking bar supported by and movable with said trace bar but having limited movement relative thereto, locking projections carried by said trace bar and adapted to engage said projections of said actuatorsto lock the same in set positions when the locking bar is in locking position.

12. In combination, a plurality of rollers each having an on position and an off position, a longitudinally movable trace bar associated therewith, a plurality of headed studs carried by the trace bar and longitudinally spaced apart thereon, overlapping actuators pivoted on said studs with slight friction and each having a stop drawing position and a stop canceling position, each of said actuators having adjacent its free end a longitudinally extending groove with an upper shoulder and a lower shoulder, said groove accommodating the head of the stud for supporting the next succeeding actuator and said shoulders being adapted to engage said stud for limiting the extent of movement of the actuator, each of said actuators also havin.;r a centrally disposed rearwardly extending projection at its rear end, a locking bar supported by and movable with said trace bar but having limited longitudinal'movement relative thereto, said locking bar having projections respectively associated with and adapted to engage the projections on said actuators for positively locking the actuators in their relative set positions, a spring normally urging the locking bar into locking position, and means for holding said locking bar out of said locking position during the operation of setting said actuators.

JOHN T. AUSTIN. 

